Mats Hummels, Shinji Kagawa and Giorgio Chiellini are but three of the football heavyweights to lend their support to Common Goal -- the initiative co-founded by Juan Mata through which professional footballers donate one percent of their salary to sporting causes around the world.

However, the latest star name to join the movement is a little different in that he doesn't actually exist.

Alex Hunter is the star of story mode "The Journey" included in FIFA 19, and is therefore entirely fictional, but that hasn't stopped him from pledging a portion of his income (presumably crypto-currency?) to Common Goal.

Such a magnanimous gesture seals Hunter's position among the greats when it comes to the grand pantheon of fictional footballers.

Top of the tree surely has to by Roy Race: titular star of Roy of the Rovers, Melchester Rovers legend, fearsome left foot, fine head of hair, and all-round good egg.

Captain Tsubasa influenced an entire generation of young football fanatics, with several professional stars citing the Japanese cartoon (broadcast as "Oliver and Benji" in Europe) as a source of childhood inspiration.

The likes of Lionel Messi, Fernando Torres, Andres Iniesta and Alessandro Del Piero have all spoken of their love for the show in the past.

However it soon came to light that Bugduv was merely an elaborate hoax created by Irish journalist Declan Varley, who used forged news stories and bogus Wikipedia entries to fool the football press into singling out his entirely made-up teenage wunderkind as one to watch.